$139.99

I am excited to offer this very special, antique brown transferware Sailors Farewell rolling pin. The pin is a brown transfer of three unique scenes and sayings. They are hand painted underglaze with red, green, blue and yellow. The first is a scene of Sunderland Bridge which lists the height of 100' and the span of 236 feet. The center is a slightly rectangular floral with the words "FORGET ME NOT" printed inside. The third is another floral frame, slightly oval shaped which reads, " The loss of gold is great, The loss of time is more, But losing Christ is such a loss, That no man can restore".

From Collectors Weekly:

"Perhaps because of their similarity to sailors’ belaying pins, rolling pins became associated with seafarers and romance. It is said that sailors bored at sea would carve unique rolling pins out of lignum vitae and attach whale bone handles to make a gift for their lover back home.

Starting in the 18th century, glassworks in English port towns like Bristol, London, Sunderland, and Newcastle began producing hollow rolling pins that sailors would give to loved ones, particularly young women they were hoping to woo for marriage.

These rolling pins were often painted, gilded, and, later, printed with images of sailors and ships and phrases such as “be true to me,” “for my mother,” and “may the eye of the Lord watch over you.” They were usually filled with goods like bath salts, vinegar, cocoa, or baking powder. In theory, once emptied, these glass rolling pins could be filled with water or crushed ice to keep the dough cool and prevent it from sticking to the pin. Such pins would have an opening at one or both ends that closed with a cork or metal cap. While this sounds like a good idea, many bakers complained that such pins would sweat condensation all over their pastry dough.

Other glass rolling pins, also called “love tokens,” were produced as parlor conversation pieces, and not used in baking at all. Love tokens often contained salt, a particularly popular gift because the high tax on the preservative made it very expensive and valuable until about 1845. These glass rolling pins were often hung by a fire to keep the salt dry.

While glass rolling pins were common at one time, their fragile nature has made them quite collectible."

Perfect for your Farmhouse or cottage kitchen!So pretty!

Measures: appx 14 3/4"Condition: has two hairline cracks and crazing as shown in close up photos so this is a display piece only

To learn more about English transferware and see it in many practical and decorative uses please visit me at one of the places below: